Bath head coach Brian Ashton has been appointed as England's attack coach for the tour of Australia next month, the Rugby Football Union (RFU) said yesterday.

Ashton, 59, the England assistant coach under Clive Woodward from 1998 to 2002, joins head coach Andy Robinson, forwards coach John Wells and defence specialist Mike Ford.

His appointment completes the new England coaching team. Ashton had left the RFU's national academy six months ago to rejoin Bath.

"The opportunity to return to the senior England coaching set-up was too good to turn down," he said in a statement.